Nathaniel m



(No Model.) 2 SheetsSheet 1.

N. M. LOWE. 00m OPERATED PLATFORM WBIGHING SCALE.

No. 449,626. Patented Mar. 31,1891.

r (No Model.) 2 sheets-sheet 2.

N. M. LOWE. COIN OPERATED PLATFORM WEIGHING SCALE.

No. 449,626. Patented Mar. 31, 1891.

' UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

NATHANIEL M. LO\VE, OF BOSTON, MASSACIIUSE'1"S,ASSIGNOR TO HIMSELF,FRANK I. STONE, AND CHARLES A. SHAW, OF SAME PLACE.

COIN-OPERATED PLATFORM WEiGHING-SCALE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 449,626, dated March31, 1891.

Application filed May 22, 1890.

To (6 whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, NATHANIEL M. Lown, of Boston, in the county ofSuffolk, State of Massachusetts, have invented certain new and usefulImprovements in Coin-Operated Platform Weighing-Scales, of which thefollowing is a description sufficiently full, clear, and exact to enableany person skilled in the art or science to which said inventionappertains to make and use the same, reference being had to theaccompanying drawings, forming part of this specification, in whicl1--Figure 1 is a front elevation showing my improvement, the dial beingremoved and the body of the case being broken away; Fig. 2, a like viewshowing the position of the parts when in use; Fig. 3, a verticalsection of the governor; Fig. 4:, a horizontal section of the same, andFig. 5 a view illustrating certain details of construction.

Like letters and figures of reference indicate corresponding parts inthe different figures of the drawings.

My invention relates more especially to providing platformweighing-scales of this class with controlling mechanism for preventingthe j arrin g or vibratory movements of certain parts of the weighingand indicating mechanism resulting from the sudden expansion andcontraction of the scalespring or balancespring when weight isimproperlyapplied and removed from the scale-platform; and it consists in certainnovel features hereinafter fully set forth and claimed, the object beingto produce a simpler, cheaper, and more effective device of thischaracter than is now in ordinary use.

The nature and operation of the improvement will be readily understoodby all conversant with such matters from the following explanation.

In the drawings, A represents the case, which may be of any suitableform and construction, and is provided with a platform at its lower endin the usual manner. The case is provided witha dial having anindex-iinger Z). The balance-springd has one end secured to a rod f,vertically adjustable in a lug g on said case. The lower end of thespring is se- Seria1N0.352,'779. (No model.)

the scale-platform, said plate being hereinafter denominated thebalance-spring plate. The finger l) is journaled in a bracketj in thecase, and its arbor 7r bears a pinion m, which meshes with a verticalgravitative rack or measuring-rod 1), said rack being fitted to slide inthe bracket j, and having its lower end resting on the balance-springplate It.

A coin-chuteqopens through the top of the case. A vertical lever "r ispivoted to the lower end of said chute and an adjustingserew it passesthrough one arm of said lever into engagement with the chute-wall. Inthe upper arm of said lever a retaining pawl or click '2 is pivoted inposition to engage upwardly-beveled teeth a on the outer edge of therack 11, and throw the lower end of said lever outward when the ac]:returns after having descended, as hereinafter described. A forkedgravity-lever 15 is pivoted astride the lower end of the chute oppositethelever r, and is provided with adj Listing-weights 16. A horizontalrod 17 is pivoted by one end to the lower end of the lever 15, the freeend of said rod sliding through the bracketj and engagingdownwardly-beveled teeth 18 on the rack p. This locks the rack andprevents it from actuating the index when weight is applied to theplatform until the lever 15 is thrown outward bya coin in the chute.Said lever is adjusted by means of the weights 16, so that a coin of adetermined weight is required to move it sufficiently to free the rack.The lever is designed to resist the weight of the coin, and said leversr and 15 are so constructed and arranged that the coin will be heldbetween them until the lower end of the lever '2' is thrown outward, ashereinafter described.

A rectangular tank 13 is disposed within the case adjacent to the spring(Z. Vertieallyarranged fins or plates 20 project inward from the wallsof the tank to prevent the liquid therein from rotating too freely. Averticallyarranged spirally flut ed or threaded shaft C is mounted insteps 21 and 29, respectively, secured within the case and centrally onthe bottom of the tank. Vertical cured to a plate 7t, connected by a rod'1? with floats or paddles 23 are arranged radially around and securedto the lower end of the shaft within the tank. The tank is filled withliquid, preferably water, in which said paddles work, and is I providedwith a cover 24. An interiorly threaded or fluted nut is fitted totravel on the threaded portion of the shaft 0. A vertical standard 27 issecured at its lower end to the spring-plate h and a lever 26 is pivotedto the upper end of this standard. The short arm of said lever isprovided with a fork 29, (see Fig. 5,) which is pivoted to the nut 25.The opposite end of this lever is provided with a counter-weight 28.

In the use of my improvement, the parts being in the position shown inFig. 1, when weight is applied to the platform, the connecting-rod 2'draws the plate It downward. The rack 19 is prevented from falling bythe locking-rod 17. A coin 30 beinginserted in the coin-chute fallsagainst the gravity-lever 15,

throwing it outward sufficiently to withdraw of the lever r outward andrelease the coin, I

which falls from between the levers r and 15, into a suitablereceptacle. The weigh-ts 16 now cause the lever 15 to fall inward again,and the locking-rod l7 engaging the rackteeth 18 looks said rack untilagain released by a coin.

In maclnnes of this class as ordinarily I constructed when the weight issuddenly applied to and removed from the scale-plat-v form, the force ofthe spring (Z, acting upon y the rack-causes the parts to vibrateviolent-1y, thereby frequently disarranging or breaking the racklock-ing and indicating mechan1sm-as, for instance, would beoccaimprovement this objection is overcome. As A the balance-sprin gplate It descends, the standard 27 draws the lever 26 downward, causingthe nut 25 to travel on and rotate the spirally fluted or threaded shaft0. The paddles or floats 23 on said shaft working in the liquid in thetank 13 serve to check or retard the descent of the balance-spring plateh. As said plate is drawn upward by the spring the paddles rotated againby the nut render such ascent gradual and prevent all harmful jar orvibration of the parts. 1

I do not confine myself to the use -of any special number of paddles orfloats 23 on the .more may be employed.

spirally fluted orthreaded shaft, as one or Neither do I con fine myselfto the use of a rectangular tank B, as a tank of any suitable form withor without the fins 20 may be employed; nor to arranging the float orpaddle-shaft vertically, as it may be arranged horizontally byintroducin g proper intermediate eonn ecting mechanism' between thepaddle-shaft and platform-rod 2'; nor to placing the tank in any specialposition in the case of the scale, as it may be located in anyconvenient position to enable the platform mechanism to be connectedwith the paddle-shaft in such a manner as to produce rotary movements ofthe shaft when the scale-platform falls and rises in the act ofweighing; nor to pivoting the rod or standard 27 to the balance-springplate h.

I-Iaving'thus explained my invention, what I claim isv 1. In acoin-operated weighing-scale, the combination of a tank for containing aliquid, a helically-fluted shaft extending into said tank, a paddle orpaddles disposed in said tank on'said shaft, a nut fitted to work onsaid shaft, and mechanism connecting said nut with the scale, wherebythe paddleshaft is rotated during the weighing operation, substantiallyas described.

2. In a coin-operated weighing-scale, the combination of a tank forcontaining a liquid, a helically-fluted shaft extending into said tank,a paddle or paddles disposed in said tank on said shaft, a .nut fittedto work IOC on said shaft, a lever connect-ed with said nut, a standardonto which said leve'r is pivoted, and a balance-spring plate supportingsaid standard and connected with the'weighing mechanism, substantiallyas described.

3. In a coin-operated scale, the combination of a vertically-movablerack connected with the weighing mechanism and provided on its innerface with plain teeth and on its outer face near its upper end withupwardlyinclined teeth and near its lower end with rack p, the chute q,weighted lever 15, rod

1-7, and lever 0, provided with the pawl 'u,su bstantially as described.a

5. The combination of the case A, balance-spring d, rack vp, thestandard 27,, the lever 26, pivoted thereto, the tank B, thehelicallyfluted shaft Q, provided with paddles.

23, and the nut 25 on said shaft and connected to said lever,substantially as described.

6. A rack-looking device for the index-rack of a coin-operatedweighing-scale, comprising the index-rack, two levers pivoted to thecoinehute and adapted to support the coin, one of said levers havingadetermined grmdtyforce and being provided with a pivoted arm forlocking said rack, and the companion le- [0 Yer provided with a pawlengaging teeth on said reek, substantially as described.

NATHANIEL M, LOWE. Witnesses: K. DURFEE, G. A. SHAXV,

